Are you searching for a dark, twisted psychological horror that will make your skin crawl? Look no further!
Trapped amidst the aftermath of inebriated and forgotten deeds, an unfaithful man promises himself that this will be the last time he betrays his family.
While struggling to untangle himself from a web of his own making, he notices that all is not what it seems. A lingering sense of unease haunts every conscious moment, as does the sensation of something monstrous creeping steadily closer.
From the dark and unwelcoming corners of existence, a creature observes him patiently, gathering shape with every desperate breath he takes.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of psychological and physical horror.
One of the strongest elements of "Formulation" is the slow burn of creeping dread that begins on page one as the reader is introduced to a man struggling to recall one or more horrible things he believes he has done. The man is an alcoholic, apparently equally struggling to remain sober, if only to help him piece together the fragments taunting him with glimpses of those past deeds and the seemingly-perfect life they may have jeopardized.
Those familiar with Lorn's previous tale of psychological horror "PACT" will likely recognize many of the themes and literary mechanisms at play in "Formulation," though the author does add a few noteworthy wrinkles to this tale, taking advantage of its extra length to briefly explore concepts such as the intersections of art, philosophy, and science as they relate to the struggling man's predicament. Unfortunately, I did find myself a bit less engaged by this story than the others of his I've read. There's no way for me to explain why without a bit of a spoiler, so skip to the next paragraph if you'd prefer to avoid that. In brief, my issue with "Formulation" is that the man's true nature became apparent a little too early in the proceedings, making it a bit too obvious how things were likely to play out. Thus, watching the back half of the story unfold felt less like an "ah-ha" revelation and more like dwelling on a foregone conclusion. Still, even with that early tip of the hand, things remained interesting enough to hold my attention and keep me turning pages. I also suspect that, if I'd never experienced a similar tale from the author before, I might have enjoyed this one more, though I'm fairly certain I still wouldn't have been "surprised" by it due to the aforementioned early reveal.
All things considered, I would enthusiastically recommend "Formulation" to any fan of tales focusing on intense, unyielding psychological terror, and actually think it might be the best starting point of the three Daniel Lorn stories I've read so far, perhaps only second to "See You Later," for those interested in exploring his works. It simply didn't completely land for me in the way I was hoping it might. 4.25 stars, rounded up so as not to underrate it.